Cofidis rider Nicolas Edet has dented his team’s chances of ending their Tour de France barren spell after pulling out of the race with illness, becoming the second rider to do so after Patrick Bevin failed
to make the start line this morning.
The Frenchman battled his way through most of stage 6 despite spending a lot of the day off the back of the bunch, throwing in the towel with 59km to go until the stage’s finish at La Planche
des Belles Filles.
Just a few kilometers earlier the 31 year-old was visibly struggling as he fell 13 minutes behind the peloton, raising questions about whether the sick and suffering Edet would even be able to beat the clock and stay within the stage’s time limit.
Abandon de @NicoEdet. Malade ce matin, il a été lâché en début d'après-midi et n'a pas pu finir l'étape. Bon rétablissement Nico ! #CofidisMyTeam#TDF2019pic.twitter.com/bGGNXCgvaA
— Team Cofidis (@TeamCOFIDIS) July 11, 2019
The team took to Twitter to say: “Sick this morning, he was dropped in the early afternoon and could not finish the stage. Good recovery Nico!”
His abandonment will leave Cofidis, who have competed at the Tour de France every year since their inception in 1997, with an even bigger challenge as they look for their first victory at the race since 2008.
After no retirements at all in the opening five stages of this year's Tour, the pair so far on Stage 6 reflect the upping in difficulty on what the peloton are being faced with out on the road.
The 160.5km stage to La Planche Des Belles Filles contains seven categorised climbs, culminating in the first summit finish of this year's race.